Universal Sydney
The Universal Sydney Resort, commonly known as Universal Sydney, is an Australian theme park and entertainment resort complex based in Londonderry, New South Wales, Australia. The resort is owned and operated by Merlin Entertainments under a license from NBCUniversal. Universal Sydney is the largest resort in New South Wales, covering 541 acres of land. Universal Sydney consists of two theme parks (Universal Studios Australia and Universal's Wonderland), a night-time entertainment complex (Universal CityWalk Sydney), and two hotels (Universal's Outback Resort and the Hard Rock Hotel). Both hotels resorts offer Early Park Admission into The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Additionally, they also offer free unlimited Universal Express Pass for use at participating rides at Universal Studios Australia and Universal’s Wonderland. This benefit is not valid at Halloween Horror Nights. History In 2017, Universal Parks & Resorts CEO Thomas L. Williams announced that an Australian Universal resort is currently in development, though no further details were released on the matter, other than the fact that another company would own and co-operate the resort. More coming soon! Theme parks and main areas Universal Studios Australia is composed of themed areas and attractions based on the film industry. Visitors get themed dining and shopping, a variety of special events throughout the year, and may even catch an actual film crew at work on the backlot. The original theme park in the resort, Universal Studios Australia is set to open in 2020, as a theme park that let visitors "Ride the Movies." The themes of Universal Studios Australia are targeted at making guests feel like they are on a movie set with rides, shows, and attractions inspired by popular film, television, and music productions. The park consists of nine themed areas – Hollywood, Production Central, Sci-Fi City, Universal Animation World, The Lost World, Wiggles World, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, KidZone, and New York. Universal's Wonderland is primarily based on the former Wonderland Sydney (formerly Australia's Wonderland) theme park in Eastern Creek, NSW, which consists of rides and attractions that can be found in a conventional theme park. Besides those, there's also themed shopping and dining, with a variety of special events throughout the year. The park consists of five themed areas – International Street, Medieval Faire, The Boardwalk, Seuss Landing, and Action Zone. Universal CityWalk Sydney is set to open in 2021. Guests arrive at the resort park in one of two multi-story parking structures, then travel via covered moving sidewalks over into CityWalk. From there, guests can proceed into either of the theme parks, Universal Studios Sydney or Volcano Bay Sydney. The Universal Store offers merchandise from both parks. CityWalk features shopping, nightclubs, dining venues, a Hoyts Movie Theater, and a Blue Man Group show. There are many night clubs at CityWalk including Groove, CityWalks's Rising Star (a karaoke club with a live band), Red Coconut Club, and Didgeridoos. Some notable locations are The Cowfish, Hard Rock Cafe, Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, Rainforest Cafe, Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Planet Hollywood and Voodoo Doughnut. Casual dining locations include: Moe's Southwest Grill, McDonald's, Panda Express, Blaze Pizza, and Fusion Bistro Sushi & Sake Bar. Resorts The resort features two official on-site hotels totaling up to 3,200 rooms. Both hotels are located in close proximity to the Universal Sydney theme parks. The hotels offer guests free shuttle bus service to the Universal Sydney theme parks. The hotels are sorted into three categories; premier hotels, preferred hotels and prime value hotels. Events Halloween Horror Nights On select nights in September through early November, Universal Studios Australia is transformed into the annual Halloween event, Halloween Horror Nights. Halloween Horror Nights, or HHN as it is more commonly known, is one of the largest Halloween events in Australia. The event typically features an "icon" that presides over the terror each evening along with an average of nine haunted houses and numerous unavoidable scare zones. It is a separately ticketed event. Other services Universal Express Pass Many attractions in Universal Studios Australia allow guests to utilize Express Pass. This pass admits guests to a separate line for the attraction, which is given priority status when boarding. Express Pass is not a virtual queuing service. Instead, passholders may enter the "Universal Express" line whenever they wish. This pass is not included with park admission. Guests can choose to purchase one of two options: Express Pass, which gives guests access to the express line one time per participating attraction per day or Express Unlimited™ Pass, which allows guests to skip the regular lines an unlimited number of times at participating attractions per day.Category:Amusement parks Category:Universal Studios Category:Universal Sydney Category:Theme park attractions